Families share grief at fatal crash sentencing

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/08/2023 (1115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MINNEDOSA — A man responsible for three deaths in a collision between a van and a train near Strathclair almost three years ago was given a 45-day conditional sentence at the courthouse in Minnedosa on Tuesday.

He also received an absolute driving prohibition, 12 months of probation and 120 hours of community service.

Richard Sinclair pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to stop the van he was driving at a marked railway crossing on Sept. 8, 2020, leading to the deaths of passengers Phil Houle Jr., 45, Trevor Bone, 25 and Layne Catcheway, 19, who was described as Sinclair’s brother-in-law.

Crown attorney Melania Cannon said Sinclair only slowed down as the van approached the CP Rail tracks near Highway 16, but didn’t stop, The vehicle was struck by two train engines which were connected to each other but not any rail cars.

Prior to sentencing, more than 25 of the victims’ loved ones, including parents, uncles, aunts and siblings took seats in the courtroom gallery.

Some wore gear from the Layne’s Stars fastball team — renamed in Catcheway’s honour — while others wore shirts bearing a picture of the young man.

Cannon said it was a senseless tragedy, but was not a criminal action on Sinclair’s part, which is why the Crown accepted Sinclair’s pleas to offences under the Highway Traffic Act rather than the Criminal Code, which could have brought higher penalties.

The Crown attorney acknowledged that several family members of the deceased disagreed with that assessment and said her recommended sentence was trying to balance the fact Sinclair’s act wasn’t criminal with the loss of three lives.

As a result, the Crown proposed a 45-day conditional sentence order with a 24-hour curfew, except for work, for each of the three counts, running concurrent to each other. On top of that was a request for a 12-month driving prohibition and for Sinclair to perform 120 hours of community service.

Sinclair was also ordered not to contact the family members of the deceased and to go through 12 months of supervised probation after his sentence finishes.

Cannon said probation services have assessed Sinclair as being a minimal risk to reoffend, with no prior criminal record and a willingness to plead guilty to take responsibility for his actions.

However, she said aggravating factors included Sinclair’s failure to drive appropriately despite his awareness of the train track and his failure, as the driver of the van, to ensure all passengers were wearing seatbelts.

“There’s no doubt in the Crown’s mind that Mr. Sinclair will ever make a mistake like this again,” Cannon said.

Defence lawyer Ethan Pollock said Tuesday’s sentencing was the most emotional event he’s had to deal with in his career. He acknowledged there was nothing he nor Sinclair could do to reverse the damage done.

Pollock, who joined the Crown’s in recommending the sentence, said his client was reckless in his actions, but there is no jail sentence that could compare to Sinclair having to listen to the victim impact statements being read in court.

Houle’s mother, Georgina, was the first to provide a statement. She was accompanied to the witness stand by a family member who hugged her as she delivered her remarks.

“The day I was told Junior did not make it was the worst day of my life,” Georgina said.

Making funeral arrangements and thinking of what happened to her son, she said, have led to a deterioration of her physical and mental health and forced her to take an early retirement.

Many of those in the gallery sobbed as Georgina spoke. Sinclair looked at her during the early portion of her remarks, but was left staring at his clasped hands by the end.

After the sentencing, Georgina told the Sun that justice was not served by the sentence, and she did not feel Sinclair was remorseful for his actions.

Catcheway’s mother Joanne was next. Wearing a shirt with a picture of her son on it, she said the incident has forced her family to carry the grief of losing their son and feeling a void where his presence used to be.

Like Georgina, Joanne said the stress of losing her son forced her to stop working. She recalled the joy of Layne’s birth and watching him grow up as a tall young man, full of energy, respectful and a lover of sports who was a social butterfly.

“I would do anything to take it back and have Layne back with me,” she said, crying. Sinclair shed tears of his own during Joanne’s remarks.

The mother of two of Houle’s children — Carlene Campeau — spoke about the impact on their son Storm. Having just graduated kindergarten this year, Campeau said Storm didn’t remember much about his father but recounted what he did.

According to Campeau, she and Houle were expecting their second child together at the time of his death. She said she has struggled with the loss emotionally, physically and financially.

“My baby will never get to know his daddy,” she said.

Houle’s family members described him as a loving man who enjoyed fishing and had a deep passion for the Montreal Canadiens.

No relatives of Bone’s spoke at the sentencing, but Cannon said his spouse, the mother of his children, started to abuse alcohol after his death. Due to health issues, she was not able to address court.

Sinclair started his address to the gallery by saying it has been difficult for him as well since the accident and not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about the three men.

“I can’t imagine what you guys went through and are going through,” he said. “All three of them were like family.”

When Sinclair said that he should have been more responsible, a voice from the gallery yelled out “then why did you do it?”

Before handing down the sentence, Judge Patrick Sullivan said he hoped Tuesday’s proceedings brought some closure to the families involved.

He said it struck him that the collision happened not while Sinclair was impaired, distracted by a phone or going 120 km/h but was driving at just eight kilometres per hour while going through a stop sign.

Sullivan said Sinclair’s offence was one that a lot of people might commit, but the result reinforced what can happen when motorists don’t obey basic traffic safety rules.

After accepting the joint recommendation, Sullivan warned Sinclair that violating the conditions of his conditional sentence could lead to actual jail time.

The driving prohibition was assigned to start at 6 p.m. Tuesday evening so that Sinclair could drive himself home.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark